Welcome to my stop along the Young Adult Giveaway Hop.
There are 200+ stops along the way. Make sure you visit each of them to give yourself a better chance of picking up some wonderful Young Adult books.
For my giveaway, I thought I'd give you a little surprise. I will be visiting Walmart this weekend, and I will select one of their YA books - and at my last visit, they had a lot of them - and good ones. I was drooling, wanting to buy all that I saw there. So, I promise that it will be a good one.
**Update: I went to WalMart & bought Matched by Ally Condie. This is a wonderful Dystopian novel that many blogs are giving rave reviews. I have not read it yet, but have it on my TBR list.
To enter my giveaway, you must use the Rafflecopter below. Entries will not be taken from comments, although I would love to hear from all of you.
Running Wide Open by Lisa Nowak Publication Date: June 13, 2011 Publisher: Webfoot Publishing ISBN: 9781937167004 Genre: Young Adult, coming of age Author blog: http://lisanowak.wordpress.com/
Summary (from Goodreads): Cody Everett has a temper as hot as the flashpoint of racing fuel, and it's landed him at his uncle's trailer, a last-chance home before military school. But how can he take the guy seriously when he calls himself Race, eats Twinkies for breakfast, and pals around with rednecks who drive in circles every Saturday night?
What Cody doesn't expect is for the arrangement to work. Or for Race to become the friend and mentor he's been looking for all his life. But just as Cody begins to settle in and get a handle on his supercharged temper, a crisis sends his life spinning out of control. Everything he's come to care about is threatened, and he has to choose between falling back on his old, familiar anger or stepping up to prove his loyalty to the only person he's ever dared to trust.
Review: Cody Everett is a 15 year old troubled kid who has a messed up family and a messed up life. After getting caught with his buddies plastering graffiti at the zoo, Cody is given the choice of military school or living with his uncle Race. Choosing to live with his uncle - a stock-car racer, he figures he will still end up in military school, but soon finds out just what life should be. He has to learn to trust and be trusted. He has to learn to make the right decisions, and to stand up for what he wants and needs.
I must say that I really had a hard time getting into the "Before" section of the book. It was rough and hard to read, but after getting into the book, I know that it was necessary to include that part to get a good feel for Cody, and what his life was like - so that ultimately, you could better understand his motives later on. The voice in this story is so strong. There is no question about the emotional connections built into the plot, and it is necessary to get the message across to the reader.
The characters in this book were so vivid and strong. You got a good feel for each one, and could find yourself looking at things from the point-of-view of each main character. It was great to see a "tough guy" show some good qualities, and how he eventually get comfortable showing those qualities. Many novels portraying bad boys keep them as bad boys. This one shows what is deep down in that character - really fleshes him out.
I am a huge NASCAR fan, and I believe that this helped me understand a lot of the book. Cody's uncle Race is a weekend, Saturday night short track racer. I live less than a mile from a short track myself - listening to the cars sling themselves around the dirt track every Friday night here. I could put myself into the story, pulling on all of my senses so I was right there with Cody and Race.
This coming of age story would be one that I feel many of my male students could really get into. Again, I think the "Before" section could be a little iffy for them - there is a lot of swearing and bad language. But once you get through that part, it is wonderful. And, I think the boys would think that that was great!!
This book is one that young adults can truly relate to and should find itself as a favorite to many.
Summary: Once upon a time, Hudson knew exactly what her future looked like. Then a betrayal changed her life and knocked her dreams to the ground. Now she's a girl who doesn't believe in second chances, a girl who stays under the radar by baking cupcakes at her mom's diner and obsessing over what might have been. So when things start looking up and she has another shot at her dreams, Hudson is equal parts hopeful and terrified. Of course, this is also the moment a cute, sweet guy walks into her life--and starts serving up some seriously mixed signals. She's got a lot on her plate, and for a girl who's been burned before, risking it all is easier said than done.
It's time for Hudson to ask herself what she really wants, and how much she's willing to sacrifice to get it. Because in a place where opportunities are fleeting, she knows this chance may very well be her last....
Review: Cupcakes, Figure-skating, and Hockey. What a combination - but it works!!!! The format of the book - with cupcakes as chapter headings - how ingenious! The names and descriptions of the cupcake "titles" definitely matched the story-line of each chapter.
Bittersweet is such a sweet story - literally - pun intended. You get drawn into each character. Hudson - our protagonist has so much going on in her life - the diner, figure-skating, her family, her friends, the boys - where does she start, and where does she end. She struggles so much to make the right decisions, for herself and for those she cares about. The hockey boys - what a refreshing look. I usually hate athletic boys in stories - so cocky and full of themselves. While there was a little of this, the author showed us a side of them that made me actually like each one.
I just loved how so much was wrapped up into this story. It was a quick and easy read, but kept me wanting for more. I could not put it down once I started. I was wrapped up in Hudson's life, that I still feel myself drawn back in and thinking about it.
YA Contemporary fiction is something that I read off and on. I think this will be a great addition to my dozen or so challenges that I have signed up for. I am already reading one novel to add to this one: Queen of Kentucky by Alecia Whitaker.
I am going to shoot for midway and say level 2 - 10 books. I think I can hit that mark easily.
The Queen of Kentucky by Alecia Whitaker
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You can read any YA Contemporary novel that is published in 2012 - and they must be read in 2012. They provide a list (in spreadsheet form and also on Goodreads) on the challenge page, so you can go check it out for and idea of books to read.
If this sounds interesting to you, visit Katie's Book Blog and check out the details:
Since I am already committing myself to read historical fiction - which is a wonderful genre, I thought I'd add Young Adult historical fiction as well.
The YA Historical Fiction Reading Challenge has 2 levels, You can commit to reading 5, 10, or 15 YA or MG historical fiction books. I am going to plan on reading 5 in this category for Level 1.
**Update: I went to WalMart & bought Matched by Ally Condie. This is a wonderful Dystopian novel that many blogs are giving rave reviews. I have not read it yet, but have it on my TBR list. 
